Article in Stretton Focus, February 2015
Recently, I watched the film Amadeus for the umpteenth time. It is a superb film but is also very cruel. It tells the story of Salieri, a pedestrian composer who wants to write great music. He promises God that if he will grant him the talent then all the music he writes will be to God’s glory. God rejects the proposal which leads Salieri to declare himself God’s enemy and the patron saint of Nonentities everywhere.
To add to the burden of God’s rejection of his plea Salieri has to recognise that the most sublime music he has ever heard is coming from a dirty minded, foul mouthed upstart called Mozart. Furthermore, this music is composed without correction or modification – as if it were dictated! It seemed that God had made an outrageous choice to be the vehicle for His music.
Jesus had something to say about outrageous events. He told the story of a man who planted a small mustard seed. Now everybody knows that if you plant a mustard seed eventually what grows is a mustard plant. Not so in this case. What grew was a massive great tree big enough for birds to roost in. This sort of thing does not happen! But this is a parable about the kingdom of God so don’t expect a conventional, well ordered, civilised outcome. This is the kingdom in which the hungry find food, the lame leap and the prisoner is released – lives are transformed.
The parable of the mustard seed seems to be saying that the kingdom of God will not descend on us from above but will grow among us. And we might be surprised at the form it takes. We may see it in the most unlikely people and places. Most outrageous thought of all we may have a part to play in bringing this kingdom about.
Howard Bridge
